International Business Machines Corp. shares fell as much as 10% on Thursday, their steepest intraday decline since January 2021, after the company’s second-quarter results showed weaker-than-expected software sales. The slide in the stock erased about 120 points from Dow Jones Industrial Average futures and reversed much of IBM’s 28% year-to-date advance. IBM reported revenue of $17 billion for the quarter ended 30 June, an 8% increase that exceeded the $16.6 billion average analyst estimate. Non-GAAP earnings were $2.80 a share, also ahead of forecasts. The shortfall came in the closely watched software unit, where sales rose 10% to $7.39 billion but missed the $7.49 billion consensus figure. By contrast, the infrastructure division posted a 14% jump to $4.14 billion, driven by what Chief Financial Officer Jim Kavanaugh called the strongest mainframe launch in IBM’s history. The company also said bookings for generative-AI projects have surpassed $7.5 billion since mid-2023. Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna raised IBM’s full-year free-cash-flow target to more than $13.5 billion, citing solid demand for hybrid-cloud and AI services. Analysts, however, questioned whether software growth can accelerate in the second half, given the latest miss in that segment.